Donatello, Michelangelo, Cellini: Sculptors' Drawings from Renaissance Italy

This groundbreaking exhibition examines the multifaceted relationship between drawing and sculpture in Renaissance Italy. Because sculptors worked primarily from preparatory models in wax or clay, drawing was not an essential part of their working practice. And yet, in his self-portrait now in the Gardner Museum’s collection, the prominent Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli points not to his most famous public monument, but rather to a drawing of it. The surprising gesture raises many questions about when, why, and how Renaissance sculptors drew, and provides clues about their training and their ambitions. Come and explore works by several Italian masters, many being exhibited for the first time in the United States.